Which to use
“underlining” is a verb and “undermining” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,468
- “underlining” frequency rank
- #19,238
- “undermining” frequency rank
- 61706
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | underlining | undermining |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of underline | The act or process by which something is undermined. |
Letter map: underlining vs undermining
Shared letters muted; letters that set underlining and undermining apart highlighted. Shared run: 10.
Role in the sentence - underlining and undermining
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: underlining is averb and undermininganoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - l in “underlining” becomes m in “undermining”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61706, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
underlining is recorded at frequency rank #42,468, classified as averb. undermining is at rank #19,238, tagged as anoun.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 61706, this pair ranks #92,679 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of underlining vs undermining
Shared letters: deginru. Private to "underlining": l. Private to "undermining": m.
"underlining" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCC · "undermining" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- underlining ← nuderlining · udnerlining · undderlining · undelrining · underilning · underliinng · underlinign · underliningg
- undermining ← nudermining · udnermining · unddermining · undemrining · underimning · undermiinng · underminign · underminingg
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "underlining" for "undermining" ever safe?
Which is more common, "underlining" or "undermining"?
After this comparison
Pair "underlining" vs "undermining" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "underlining" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "undermining" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #92,679 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "underlining" and "undermining" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "underlining vs underpinning". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #92,679 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.